<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Being Conscripted and Drinking Tea by VanillaHorizon</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25133182">Being Conscripted and Drinking Tea</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/VanillaHorizon/pseuds/VanillaHorizon'>VanillaHorizon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Attempt at Humor, Cute Ending, Dialogue, F/M, Grey Warden Joining, One Shot, Rare Pairings, Tea</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:35:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,880</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25133182</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/VanillaHorizon/pseuds/VanillaHorizon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Nathaniel gets conscripted into the Wardens. Sylvia gives her newest Warden a gift, then later they share late-night tea.<br/>(Rated teen and up for foul language and threat of bodily harm)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Female Cousland/Nathaniel Howe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Being Conscripted and Drinking Tea</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Warning: Mention of drinking blood, such as Wardens canonically do.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nathaniel's week was not going the way he had planned at all.</p><p>He was now staring into the eyes of Sylvia Cousland, his father's murderer, from behind a set of metal bars.</p><p>A lifetime ago, he had met her for the very first time and he had fully expected this meeting to be their last, she was a cold-blooded killer after all.</p><p>He never expected her to conscript him, especially since he openly admitted to wanting to kill her, but she and the dwarf beside her simply shared an inside joke with a small smile coming to her lips.</p><p>She had told him as Varel was preparing the joining that he would be drinking darkspawn blood.</p><p>The thought alone was enough to make his skin crawl, but she gladly told him that there was a good chance that he would die anyway and that he shouldn't worry about it much.</p><p>After he had drunk the foul liquid, he recalled seeing the ceiling of the keep, but for just a moment, then he saw nothing but blackness.</p><p>•••</p><p>The sound of a door creaking open nudged him into a state somewhere between consciousness and slumber.</p><p>"Nathaniel?" he heard a woman call his name.</p><p>"Nate," whoever she was had called out his name again.</p><p>He mumbled a reply but didn't move.</p><p>A few moments of silence followed and he started to fall back to sleep until he heard the floorboard beside his bed creak.</p><p>"Howe, ass up!" He bolted upright and was met with a sharp bark, followed by a soft feminine laugh.</p><p>"Knew you were awake, I brought you some food in case you were still feeling the headache from bouncing your head off the floor last night, Anders made sure you didn't die," she prattled on, just as she did when they were younger.</p><p>"Is that Baskerville?" He couldn't help but ask upon seeing the great black war hound by her feet.</p><p>The mabari barked at him as she started to laugh.</p><p>"Yes, this is him, he's an old boy now, but still one of the most loyal companions I've ever had."</p><p>Sylvia hadn't changed much in the time since he had last seen her at Highever.</p><p>She still had those unruly bright red curls tied tightly up on top of her head and a face full of orange freckles.</p><p>Aside from the bags under her eyes and the obvious scar across her cheek, she looked just like she used to.</p><p>"After you eat we'll head out to Amaranthine, and don't worry, the monstrous appetite is normal, you'll get used to it."</p><p>He nodded at her before looking around the room.</p><p>It was his old room, the very one he grew up in, "These are my old quarters." It wasn't much of a question but she answered with a nod anyway.</p><p>"I hope that's okay, the keep was recently overrun with darkspawn so there are some major repairs that need taken care of in other areas before they're livable again," she told him.</p><p>"Now eat, then get your armor on, we have Warden business to attend to." Her voice took on a tone he had only heard from high ranking soldiers.</p><p>A sharp woof followed her order.</p><p>"Like, Baskerville said." Was the last thing she said to him before walking out the door.</p><p>Nathaniel glanced over to the tray she had sat on the table beside his bed to find she had brought him a heaping plate of food he wasn't even sure a single person could effectively eat in one sitting, but then again, his stomach did decide just that moment to growl like a savage wolf.</p><p>Soon enough, he was shoveling bites of food in his mouth between putting pieces of his armor on.</p><p>By the time his boots were on his feet, he noticed that the entirety of the food once on his plate was gone.</p><p>He hummed quietly, "I suppose she wasn't lying about the appetite," he muttered to himself before heading out of his quarters.</p><p>•••</p><p>Varel had pointed him toward the front gates as soon as he stepped foot into the room, he claimed the commander had to speak with someone before they left.</p><p>He couldn't have ever imagined that when he got outside that she would be talking animatedly with Samuel about plants of all things.</p><p>"I am truly sorry if it piles onto your workload, but I'd really appreciate it if you could get the garden at least tamed back enough to where it no longer looks like a brush pile- no hurry obviously, but it just looks so sad right now," she said to the older man who just chuckled in reply.</p><p>"Don't be sorry, it'll be no trouble at all, honestly, I'd enjoy getting it back to looking half presentable, it hasn't been a priority for years, the arl told us to stop tending to it shortly after the arlessa died, nearly broke my heart to just let it decay."</p><p>She smiled brightly at him, "You're the best, Samuel," she told him just before looking up to find Nathaniel standing not far away.</p><p>Samuel followed her line of sight to find him staring at the two of them.</p><p>"Who- Little Nate, is that really you?" the elf called out as the archer approached.</p><p>"I'll let you two catch up, a few minutes won't hurt," she told the two of them with a smile.</p><p>"She always has been the most polite young lady," Samuel said before turning his attention back to Nathaniel.</p><p>Nate looked at the older man with a rather sour expression, but only for a fleeting moment.</p><p>"I'm overjoyed that you stayed on," the archer finally managed to say.</p><p>"I was given the choice to stay and serve the Wardens or leave, but this has been my home for years."</p><p>Nathaniel nodded a bit sadly before pressing on.</p><p>"Please, do you know how my brother died?"</p><p>Before the elf could reply he asked about his sister's death as well.</p><p>As the two men spoke, Sylvia was across the courtyard for a moment speaking with Anders about the statue of Andraste, only returning to where Nathaniel and Samuel were chatting as the groundskeeper told him of his sister being alive.</p><p>She had only truly heard that she was married to an Amaranthine shopkeep, but Nate quickly turned his attention to her upon hearing such news.</p><p>"Did you hear that?"</p><p>"It's wonderful that De's still alive."</p><p>"Could we ask around once we're there?"</p><p>Sylvia nodded, "I don't mind that."</p><p>As if Nathaniel had suddenly remembered who he was speaking to, he turned somewhat sullen and nodded, "Thank you."</p><p>•••</p><p>The wardens returned to Vigil's Keep later that night and as soon as the others dispersed, Nathaniel called Sylvia to the side.</p><p>A bit reluctant to do so, he still apologized for the way he spoke to her in the dungeon.</p><p>Sylvia didn't say anything on the matter, she just waved for him to follow her.</p><p>"I have something I want to give you," she told him.</p><p>When they got to the door of the room she had claimed as her own she turned her attention to him as if she had sensed the caution in his steps.</p><p>Again for the second time that night, Nathaniel was reluctant, but this time the reluctance wasn't due to broaching a possibly uncomfortable subject, but for entering her room at night.</p><p>"Come on, I'm far from some noble brat now, anyone starts wagging their tongue and I'll gladly remove it for them," she said once she noticed the expression on his face.</p><p>He seemed to relax a bit at her comment, so she grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the room.</p><p>Once inside, he realized the chamber she had claimed was his father's bedroom.</p><p>He was unsure whether she knew this or not so he decided not to mention it.</p><p>Sylvia was already halfway across the room before he even realized she had released his hand.</p><p>"I found this in a crypt below the keep, I recognized the crest and for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to just throw it away," she told him as she pulled the chair out from the desk and over toward the wall.</p><p>Before he even noticed what she was trying to retrieve, he moved to stand behind her once he noticed she was climbing up on the chair.</p><p>"Afraid I'm going to fall, Howe?" she joked.</p><p>"Simply making sure you don't fool around and break your neck."</p><p>The banter came easily, just as it had long before they became the people time had made them.</p><p>She retrieved a bow from a decorative weapon rack on the wall before reaching her empty hand out toward him.</p><p>"Help me down since you're over here then."</p><p>He grabbed hold of her free hand and helped her back down to the floor.</p><p>On instinct, when she stumbled, he reached a hand out to her waist to steady her, only to quickly withdraw it when she involuntarily gasped because of the unexpected contact.</p><p>Nate quickly stepped backward, away from her once she was steady on her feet again.</p><p>"It appears to be broken, but I think you should have it," she started.</p><p>"I'm sure I can talk Wade into fixing it-" before she could finish what she was saying, he let out a soft chuckle.</p><p>"It's not broken, Commander, it's enchanted."</p><p>He then told her the story behind the bow and how he had once found it in the time before he left for the Free Marches.</p><p>"I'm glad I found it then."</p><p>"As am I, thank you for this."</p><p>"You don't need to thank me, Nathaniel, it belongs to you anyway, I'm just returning it to its rightful owner."</p><p>He nodded and smiled at her and for once, the smile on his face was a genuine one that wasn't a fleeting one.</p><p>"Anyway, I've dragged you around enough for the day that you obviously deserve some sleep, I'll see you in the morning."</p><p>"Right, good night then," he told her as he walked toward the door.</p><p>"Nate," she called out just as he reached to open the door.</p><p>He turned to glance at her, "Commander?"</p><p>"If the nightmares are too much tonight, try some tea, it helps a little."</p><p>Nathaniel nodded his reply and silently left.</p><p>If later, they both awoke due to nightmares and found each other in the Keep's kitchen in the dead of night, they didn't say anything about it.</p><p>If they also shared companionable silence in the next nights that came, while nursing their warm drinks, they also said nothing about it.</p><p>This became something the two of them shared for a while, then their nights eventually grew to include conversations with their tea.</p><p>They began to grow closer with time because of the nights they shared together.</p><p>Eventually they even grew to be more than what they once were to each other.</p><p>No one said anything when the two just started smiling at each other for no reason one morning.</p><p>Nor did they say anything when they parted with a kiss when she had to leave and start searching for a cure. </p><p>"Stay alive, and be safe, Sylvia."</p><p>"Only if you do the same, Nate."</p><p>"For you, I'll try."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I feel like this could've been better, but don't blame me. It's 93 degrees inside of my house right now, so my brain is pretty much melting.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>